Miracle on West Avenue
By Bernard Rapoport
[Bernard Rapoport is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the American Income Life Insurance Company in Waco, Texas.]
Our Congressman, Chet Edwards, called me on the phone and said, "B, I would like to ask you to meet me at 3:00 on Monday." I said, "Where?" He said, "One of my aides will be there to direct you where to go." Well, you can`t say "No" to a congressman or at least not to Chet Edwards. We got in the car and started driving. In 10 to 12 minutes, we were at 1525 West Avenue.
It was "just a building." I said to Jim Hogersson, the Executive Director of our Foundation who was accompanying me, "I have never been here before." He said, "This is the Larue Learning Center." I said, "Okay."
We walked in and there were a group of three-year-old boys and girls, dressed immaculately with their eyes bright and their cheery smiles ear-to-ear. I went up and hugged one, and then a bunch of the others came up and wanted to be hugged. All of this occurred before I even met the leader.
I thought I would test them and that they probably wouldn`t know the letters of the alphabet. I asked, "Do you know your A-B-C-`s?" Then in unison, they sang the whole alphabet in song. I thought, "That is rote." So I went to the blackboard and put an "A" and asked what it was. Without hesitation, they told me. I went through several of the letters. All this transpired within a 4 to 5-minute period, and then Ms. Larue walked in.
She looked at those children and she looked at me. It was evident to me that she had held all of those youngsters on her lap at one time-maybe not physically, but certainly emotionally. No one had to tell me I was in the presence of a truly great individual. She didn`t even have to open her mouth and talk. My first words to her here, "Ms. Larue, we have never met, but I want to tell you that you are a miracle woman." What I had seen was just the beginning. I went from classroom to classroom, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9-year olds. Each of these children was alert and disciplined-let me repeat the word disciplined.
"Well, where does the funding come from?" I asked. She said, "We don`t take any government money. Some of the parents pay-those who can-but our school has a place for every child. Private donors provide help." I said, "Ms. Larue, why this school?" She said, "Well, I wanted to prove that black children could learn as well as any other children." She said, "It is to that conviction that I have devoted my life."
One thing for certain, if it can be said that when one achieves their objective in life, they are a success, then Ms. Larue is an overwhelming success. The old adage comes to life when you visit her school, "If you save one soul, you have saved the world." By that wisdom she has saved uncounted worlds, and that is just a beginning because there are many lives that she will be saving in the years to come.
I just couldn`t contain my excitement. Everyone who so much as finishes the third grade in her school will be equipped for life, self-sufficient, and a contributing member of our society, all because she had an objective to prove. It is incontrovertibly that if you give children the right start, you can forget about color, race, gender, political proclivity, or what-have-you, and they will make this a better world.
I read a lot of psychology and philosophy because I like to. What it all really gets down to is that what is missing in our society is not enough loving, not enough caring, and not enough commitment. I guess most of all, not enough understanding. Here was an example in action right before my eyes that the way things are in our society is not the way they have to be. You could see this for yourself if you could observe the miracle at 1525 West Avenue.
